I’m an early riser. Which means that breakfast is early, too. Thankfully there are places like Yogi-sthaan in Bangalore that open real early and serve up some wonderful food. So if you wake up early on a cold, post-rain Bangalore morning, how would you dress for a day that’s bound to get much warmer, very quickly?

Here’s my answer. The denim jacket. Thick enough to keep morning chills away, thin enough to keep you from turning into a sweaty mess. A menswear staple no matter where you are, the denim jacket can be a great alternative to usual outerwear options like a blazer.

Light blue, Navy or Black are great colors to start with when picking a denim jacket. My idea here was to have the outfit get lighter in color as the eye moves outward starting with the dark shirt, finishing with white sneakers. Never shooting white shoes on white backgrounds again.

Someone I met in an elevator recently asked me why I was wearing a tie with a short sleeved shirt. Good question. Short sleeved shirts are not dress shirts but if layered intelligently, no one can tell. Also its a great way to beat the heat and when paired with a skinny tie, makes you look much better than the expected salesman/nerd in old music video look.Wearing sneakers with everything is big now, but people forget to give credit where its due. Horribly dressed rappers and basketball stars have been wearing Jordans with formals to black tie events since the early 2000s. Granted wearing minimalist sneakers like Stan Smiths or Common Projects Achilles is a far cry from the chunky footwear of those days but hey, respect to the originators. As far as sneakers go, I feel that Nike Air Force Ones embody the archetype. Listen to Nelly. Coke white AF1s can round off almost any outfit for any occasion. Maybe not every occasion. But you get the point. Wearing sneakers with formals is a tough move and you do not want to look like you are an accountant going for a run. So don’t wear beaten up running shoes or anything that’s overly embellished. Keep it simple and on the down low. As in low cut sneakers. Use invisible socks, show some ankle, it’s all good.

Ending with one of my photographers signature shots ,(you can check out Bhagya’s instagram at https://instagram.com/_ikru), I hope that this lengthy post was informative and concise. Some cool collaborations coming soon, so stay tuned folks.